Finding a Path Back to Iraq, and Toward Securing Women’s Freedom
UNITED NATIONS — YANAR MOHAMMED runs a secret network of safe houses in her native Iraq.
The women who come through its doors are honor-killing runaways, rape
survivors, war widows and assorted others who have been to the cliff
edge of hell and back.
The women who come through its doors are honor-killing runaways, rape
survivors, war widows and assorted others who have been to the cliff
edge of hell and back.
The shelters are meant to give them a second chance in life. Running the shelters gave her a second chance, too.
Ms. Mohammed left Iraq
more than 20 years ago with her husband and their young son, and she
tried for several years to settle into a life of quiet and comfort in
Toronto. Exile did not settle well with her, however. “Have you ever
been kicked out of your house?” she said in a recent interview. “Do you
know what that feels like? You try one way or the other to get your
place back.”
more than 20 years ago with her husband and their young son, and she
tried for several years to settle into a life of quiet and comfort in
Toronto. Exile did not settle well with her, however. “Have you ever
been kicked out of your house?” she said in a recent interview. “Do you
know what that feels like? You try one way or the other to get your
place back.”
“For me, the Islamist groups on the ground are like the Ku Klux Klan in the U.S., or the Nazis in Germany.” YANAR MOHAMMED
Credit
Ian Willms for The New York Times
